Back Home
You don’t have to make a ton of money to afford a decent home in some cities.
Pittsburgh is the most affordable metro area in America for those hoping to buy a home, according to data released Tuesday by the mortgage-data company HSH.com, which analyzed housing affordability in 27 cities across the nation. The HSH analysis looked at the cost—including principal, interest, taxes and insurance payments—of buying a median-priced home using a 30-year fixed-rate loan; the loan rates were based on people with credit scores of 740 or higher in each area and who put down 20%.
Using these measurements, a person hoping to buy the median home in Pittsburgh would spend about $756 per month on the home. That means they’d need a salary of $32,390 or more to afford the home (assuming they spend 28% or less of their pay on housing).
| City | Monthly cost of homeownership | Minimum salary needed to afford a home |
| Pittsburgh | $756 | $32,390 |
| Cleveland | $803 | $34,434 |
| Cincinnati | $868 | $37,179 |
| St. Louis | $890 | $38,131 |
| Detroit | $899 | $38,542 |
| Atlanta | $935 | $40,092 |
Source: HSH.com; assumes a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage
This data show that some markets are within reach of “first-time buyers and those with moderate incomes” (median home prices in each of these cities are well under $200,000), but “you may have to move away from the coasts” to find such affordable housing, says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com.
—
James Silver
Associate Broker & Team Leader
The James Silver Team
Michigan | Florida
(248) 530-7292 | JamesSilver@KW.com
